He was in a two hour breakaway at the beginning of the TdU. From cyclingnews.com:
The seven-time Tour de France winner believes the racing will help his comeback. The rider believes the only way to get competitive again after three and a half years off the bike is by racing.
“I think it’s the kind of stuff I need to do, I need to get in the race and work that top end,” he said. “Like I’ve said 100 times here, I can’t get that in training so the more I can be out there… I mean, I looked down at my power metre and the average after two hours was 340 watts, you can’t do that in training. You’re just constantly going and going and going.”
That’s in a group of a dozen, so he wasn’t pulling much of the time. That’s hammering.
What a wuss…340W for 2 hours…here on ST, everyone has an FTP of 400W…did Lance not get the memo? He better up his game before he starts his Kona attempt or MOP age groupers will crush his dreams on the Queen K
That’s in a group of a dozen, so he wasn’t pulling much of the time. That’s hammering.
Ken,
Indeed.
That’s the thing about bike racing when you get in a break like that - you never know how hard you’ll need to go and for how long. It’s like that sig line that someone on the board has “It’s a lot like wrestling a gorilla, it’s only over when the gorilla get’s tired and says it’s over” - or something like that. You kinda throw all those nice little rules of training out the window!!
It’s hard to train for that and that’s why Lance says, that racing is the best form of training for racing. And he’s right!
Doesn’t he weigh like 160? If so that is not crazy. On the one hand, any time you hear numbers from Pro’s, especially those who ride SRMs, you have to take it with a grain of salt as they always seem a little inflated. On the other hand, it is Armstrong, so high power numbers shouldn’t really surprise us.
As a side note, does anyone else think it’s funny that now he is talking about how there is this kind of training he can “only get in a race,” yet his trademark for the 7 tour victories was a buildup that largely ignored racing, with a few exceptions (Amstel, Dauphiné, etc.)
Would you want to wrestle one of these guys? I mean, he looks sleepy, but I bet he wakes up fast.
Not that kind of gorilla( sorry - typo), but I guess it could be as well. I am sure these guerrillas put up pretty good fight if they are protecting several $million of cocaine!
As a side note, does anyone else think it’s funny that now he is talking about how there is this kind of training he can “only get in a race,” yet his trademark for the 7 tour victories was a buildup that largely ignored racing, with a few exceptions (Amstel, Dauphiné, etc.)
He has been away from real racing for 3 1/2 years, so he may just want to get used to the flow of it again.
I have seen some articles saying that as you get older as an athlete, it’s best to not to get too far away from “peak” fitness. When younger you can do more of that recovery/build- big-base-
/fine-tune-with-intensity, training. But when you are older, that higher intensity training takes more out of you and you need more recovery. . etc . . that’s why they advise that you never get too far away from peak. That you should dose your training with higher intensity work more often throughout the year.
He was in a two hour breakaway at the beginning of the TdU. From cyclingnews.com:
The seven-time Tour de France winner believes the racing will help his comeback. The rider believes the only way to get competitive again after three and a half years off the bike is by racing.
“I think it’s the kind of stuff I need to do, I need to get in the race and work that top end,” he said. “Like I’ve said 100 times here, I can’t get that in training so the more I can be out there… I mean, I looked down at my power metre and the average after two hours was 340 watts, you can’t do that in training. You’re just constantly going and going and going.”
That’s in a group of a dozen, so he wasn’t pulling much of the time. That’s hammering.
Hmmm…I wonder if he’s got his SRM set to report average power with, or without, zeros…
Wrestle? Remember the scene in Indiana Jones where the guy swings the swords at Indiana - who promply shoots the guy with the sword? I bet these guys wrestle like that.
The day had a lot of strong crosswinds from reports, that always makes it a lot harder as you dont get near as much of a draft. There was a lot of horsepower in that break, and four of the original riders got shelled out.
Best/worst thing about powermeters is that you get to realize how pitifull your power output is against the worlds best, I dont think I would have lasted 10 minutes in that break.
The day had a lot of strong crosswinds from reports, that always makes it a lot harder as you dont get near as much of a draft. There was a lot of horsepower in that break, and four of the original riders got shelled out.
Best/worst thing about powermeters is that you get to realize how pitifull your power output is against the worlds best, I dont think I would have lasted 10 minutes in that break.
Kevin
You would have lasted. But after that 10 minutes of sitting on the very last wheel despite everyone else rotating through, a water bottle would have mysteriously appeared in your front spokes.
Love the post I have been thinking the same thing. I love what he is doing and has done for the sport and cancer research but in the end we have to sit back and realize this is a marketing campaign not an athlete who can’t stand not competing.
He was in a two hour breakaway at the beginning of the TdU. From cyclingnews.com:
The seven-time Tour de France winner believes the racing will help his comeback. The rider believes the only way to get competitive again after three and a half years off the bike is by racing.
“I think it’s the kind of stuff I need to do, I need to get in the race and work that top end,” he said. “Like I’ve said 100 times here, I can’t get that in training so the more I can be out there… I mean, I looked down at my power metre and the average after two hours was 340 watts, you can’t do that in training. You’re just constantly going and going and going.”
That’s in a group of a dozen, so he wasn’t pulling much of the time. That’s hammering.
Hmmm…I wonder if he’s got his SRM set to report average power with, or without, zeros…
Was thinking the same thing. I find it hard to believe he averaged 340w in the first two hours of a race where he was with a dozen guys. 340w normalized would be much more believable. Sounds like zero’s aren’t being averaged into that or he’s playing games.
